The invention relates to a card edge connector for electrically connecting tongue portions of a plurality of terminals to a connecting section having a plurality of stripped terminals formed on an edge portion on both surfaces of a printed board. The invention also relates to a method for connecting opposed terminals to a printed board.
A card edge connector is designed to connect an edge portion of a printed board between opposed terminals. A connecting section of the printed board has a plurality of terminals juxtaposed on both surfaces of the edge portion of the printed board. The terminals are formed by stripping parts of printed wire paths on the edge portion. A conventional card edge connector of this type is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.
In FIGS. 6 and 7, terminals (not shown) are formed on both surfaces of an end portion of a printed board. A slit-like insertion opening 4, which allows the end portion 1 of the card to be inserted therein, is formed in a box-like housing 3 of a card edge connector 2. The housing 3 holds terminals 5, 5 formed on opposite sides of a slender space 7 that communicates the insertion opening 4 within the depth of the housing 3. The respective terminal fittings 5, 5 have flexible tongue-like abutment portions 6 that project toward each other in the slender space 7.
With this construction, to connect the card edge connector 2 to the end portion 1 of the printed board, the end portion 1 is aligned with the insertion opening 4 of the housing 3 and inserted or slid into the insertion opening 4 to an inserted position shown in FIG. 7. During insertion, the end portion 1 pushingly expands the opposed vertically projecting tongue-like abutment portions 6 away from each other as the end portion moves toward the space 7 along a longitudinal axis of the insertion opening 4.
In the aforementioned conventional card edge connector, the end portion 1 abuts against the abutment portions 6 obliquely to cause the abutment portions 6 to flex while sliding along the abutment portions 6 during insertion of the end portion 1. Accordingly, the end portion 1 is subjected to frictional and spring resistance at the time the end portion 1 pushingly expands the abutment portions 6. In some cases, the frictional resistance is of such a magnitude that the end portion 1 cannot slide well, thus deforming the abutment portions 6. In addition, the large frictional and spring resistance adversely affects the connecting operation.